1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to sources of electromagnetic energy having amplitudes or other characteristics that can cause injury to a human operator, and more particularly, to an arrangement for protecting the human operator and others from inadvertent viewing of, or other exposure to, the electromagnetic energy.
2. Description of the Related Art
Sources of electromagnetic radiation, particularly light beams, are advancing technologically to very high output amplitudes and intensities, sufficient to cause injury to personnel. Moreover, the light beams often are characterized by frequency distributions that extend beyond the visible range, whereby it is not readily apparent to a user that he or she is being exposed to injurious levels of energy.
In several known arrangements, a source of electromagnetic energy, such as an intense light source, is enclosed within a housing, and there is provided a port that permits the light from the source to be propagated outside of the housing. Oftentimes, the port is of a known type, which may include a conventional SMA fitting to which can readily be connected a fiber optic conduit. However, in the course of attaching the conduit to the fitting, the system operator may inadvertently permit injurious levels of the energy to impinge upon him or her, particularly in the eyes. Sometimes, the electromagnetic energy has a visible component that may serve to warn the operator that the light source is energized. However, the light beam propagated through the port may contain significant intensities of ultraviolet or infrared energy which is not visible. In fact, the visible component may be of sufficiently low intensity to deceive the operator into believing that the invisible components, if any, are also of low intensity. Exposure to the high intensity invisible components can result in burn lesions or loss of eyesight.
There is, therefore, a need for an arrangement that protects personnel from this industrial hazard.
It is therefore, an object of this invention to provide a protective arrangement that blocks a light port to preclude inadvertent viewing or other exposure to the electromagnetic radiation being emitted therefrom.
It is another object of this invention to provide a protective arrangement that is simple and economical and can provide ready access to a light port with security from inadvertent exposure to the emitted light.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a protective arrangement that provides a visual indication that a light is being emitted from a light port.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a protective arrangement that functions to effect safety irrespective of the orientation of the equipment on which it is employed.
It is additionally an object of this invention to provide a simple and economical protective arrangement that can be overridden with security from inadvertent exposure to the emitted electromagnetic radiation.
It is yet a further object of this invention to provide a protective arrangement that precludes inadvertent viewing of a potentially injurious level of electromagnetic radiation being emitted from an energy port, the protection being provided irrespective of the availability of electrical power.
It is also another object of this invention to provide a protective arrangement that provides indication of the presence of emitted electromagnetic radiation without the need to communicate electrically with the energization circuitry to the light source.